PEORIA, Ariz.  Freddy Garcia has been around long enough to read the resin bags.

“Saturday could be really important for me,” the veteran right-handed starter said earlier this week. “I need to pitch good, and sometimes that is hard to do in spring training.

“This is a different spot for me. I am fighting for a job. And everyone else is pitching good.”

With nine exhibition games to go in spring training, the Padres are pretty much set on four-fifths of their starting rotation — Clayton Richard, Edinson Volquez, Jason Marquis and Eric Stults.

With General Manager Josh Byrnes on Thursday dismissing reports of a possible deal to land Tigers starter Rick Porcello, the leading contenders for the last spot are Tyson Ross and Andrew Cashner.

Garcia seems to be losing ground on the rotation front and behind Anthony Bass when it comes to being the long man in the bullpen. After five spring training starts, Garcia has a 9.77 earned run average — allowing 17 runs on 21 hits in 15 2/3 innings.

Thus far, he hasn’t shown much of a fastball, using his off-speed pitches and veteran’s guile and finesse to get outs.

“Everyone knows what I can do,” Garcia said. “They know how I will be pitching later in the summer. But this is a hard situation because I have to win a spot. I have to be better than everyone else.”

And right now, he’s not.

It’s beginning to appear that Garcia’s outing Saturday night against the Colorado Rockies at Salt River Fields might be an audition for another team seeking pitching rather than a shot at making the Padres’ staff.

Garcia, who was not happy about being in the Yankees’ bullpen last season, says he would go to the bullpen for the Padres. But he says he will not accept an assignment to Triple-A Tucson the way another veteran, Jeff Suppan, did last year.

“The bullpen, why not?” Garcia said. “But I’ll go home at the end of spring training rather than go to Triple-A. I want to pitch. But I’m not going to Triple-A.”

The 36-year-old Venezuelan was 7-6 last season with a 5.20 ERA in 30 appearances (17 starts) for the Yankees. He actually pitched better out of the bullpen with a 2.42 ERA over 22 1/3 innings in 13 games. He was 5-6 with a 5.93 ERA as a starter.

Garcia is seven years removed from the end of his great run with the Seattle Mariners and Chicago White Sox. But he was 24-14 with a 4.15 ERA with the White Sox and Yankees over the 2010-2011 seasons.

Meanwhile, Ross will take a streak of 11 1/3 straight scoreless innings into his start tonight against the Mariners in Peoria. Padres manager Bud Black calls Ross, who has a 2.78 ERA over 16 1/3 innings “one of the pleasant surprises” of spring training.

Cashner threw 58 pitches in his last start and might be up to 80 pitches by the end of spring training, although that might not be far enough along to be ready to start when the No. 5 starter is needed April 6 in Colorado.

“Cashner is not out of the question, but it’s still a close call,” Black said.

If Cashner wins the No. 5 spot, Ross likely would be in the bullpen. If Ross gets the nod, Cashner might open the season in the rotation at either Tucson or Double-A San Antonio.

Byrnes said that although the Padres and Tigers discussed Porcello last November and December, there are no talks currently under way.

“I thought those rumors went away,” Byrnes said of the rumored deal: Porcello for closer Huston Street or setup man Luke Gregerson.

Porcello, 24, is a sinkerball pitcher who has a 48-42 record with a 4.55 ERA in 120 major league starts over the past four seasons. Although he is controllable for three more seasons, Porcello is making $5.1 million this season and is arbitration eligible.

Losing Street or Gregerson would weaken the bullpen, and the Padres believe their long-term starting pitching should improve with the development of Cashner, Ross and Bass; the possible return of Cory Luebke and Joe Wieland from Tommy John surgery later this summer; and the depth of younger arms in the system — including Donn Roach and Robbie Erlin in the high minors.